Worcestershire Sauce, or simply referred as Wooster Sauce was originally produced here by the Lea and Perrins company in the 19th century. Now its produced by Heinz, though they still call it "Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce". Like all good things it was produced by accident and the rest is history.
Worcester is a small town in the area referred to as the midlands. Its populated by less than hundred thousand people, so you see what I mean. Despite being small, its a lovely place with courteous people who don't seem to suffer from the fears of big city residents. They are not cynical and less individualistic. I suppose that comes with the size of the city you have. The more people there are, the less you know them and the bigger the city the easier to do bad and get away. Every news is big news. Every event is heard of. Life is simpler. Families are stronger. People are generous. Cycles are common. People walk to this and that place. There are fewer traffic jams. Less pollution. Less noise. People live in houses rather than apartments and their houses have chimneys. People have faith. People have hope. There is less depression. People go to church. They believe that tomorrow will be a better day. No one is in a hurry. People care about the environment. May be I am seeing too much in this small place or is it just that I was born in a similar place and miss the joys and peace of living in a small town.
Let me take you to a tour of the town. Like all other places in UK this town too has High Street and the name gives the purpose away, its the shopping district, the Tariq Road of Worcester. Something about this street reminds me of the Istaklal street in Istanbul. I suppose they took the idea from Britain and modeled it the same way.
Two salient features of this town are the river Severn and the Worcester Cathedral. The river Severn is the longest river in the UK and passes through many counties and towns including Worcester. Its a nice river but like other rivers is also responsible for occasional flooding, though nothing of the Bangladesh kind.
In the back you can also see the famous Worcester Cathedral. Now Worcester Cathedral's full name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to Wikipedia, its been here for around 14 centuries but the current structure is from the 12th or 13th century. The Cathedral stands tall at the center of the town on one end of the High Street.
Without further ado lets take you to it.
This probably is the front gate or may be this just where we went in from. On entering to you left is a residential block and some that look like offices. I presume they belong to those who either work here at the cathedral or take care of it.
On the other side you are looking at the iconic Cathedral building. It has the tower that was most visible from the distance.
As we enter the Cathedral the I notice something about the architecture that would seem consistent throughout. The entrance door to the building was very small and in fact every door inside the building was small and a little cramped as well. This differs completely from the ceilings of the building, which are grand and high. I found that contrast a little odd but I suppose there is some history and philosophy behind it, about which I have no idea.
While walking along this path, on the right you see the Chapter House which to me just seems like a circular area but is supposed to be the place in the church where meetings are held. Monks gather here and the abbot reads the chapter, in which the matters of the monastry and its inhabitants are read aloud.
As you enter the Cathedral, it seems to be divided into two wings, if you would. On the east side, there is the prayer area, called the Nave.
I would like to show you the window on the east end that you see right in front of you.
On the right you have the Choir area, very beautiful.
Between the East and West wings sits this grand organ, which is placed temporarily here and does not work right now. It is being rebuilt and would be moved to the choir area.
At different places in the church you see these tombs. I suppose a lot of people are buried here as well.
Somewhere here and below the Choir area is the Crypt where a number of people are buried and there is a special prayer area as well.
At the other end you have this special prayer area.
When you leave the crypt through the following exit you come out somewhere around the organ and from there we actually traced our way back out.
On our way out probably something to remember the places by with me there.
Last but not least lets look at another aspect of this town's history, the military one. This is said to be the place where the last battle of the English civil war was fought and people held there ground here. Because of this the motto of this town is: CIVITAS IN BELLO ET PACE FIDELIS, meaning, The faithful city in war and peace.
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